Let me confess, I don’t have any kids, I’m going to try to guide you on what NOT to pack for your kids based only on observation.

I understand how difficult and frustrating must be for parents to take young children on a road trip or to fly to see the grandparents. I seen them at the airport struggling to get the suitcases, the stroller and the husband in line.

Let’s start with the stroller, but I will call it the Stroher, if you have a child young enough to be on the Stroher, he or she becomes your priority, parents get so focus on that baby that any other child already walking seem to always wondered where they don’t belong, behind the check-in counter, talking to a passenger on the other airline, bypassing security before you even had a chance to get your identification out of the purse, or simply lost while you have been in the security line for fifteen minutes.

The Stroher seem to be the carry-on bag you decided not to take because you figure out most of the stuff you need on your carry-on you can pile it up in the Stroher with the diapers and other baby essentials. And then, you have to get in the plane, child number two is already in the cockpit talking to Captain nemo and husband number one is trying to bypass the line to catch up with child number two, in the meantime you realized the Stroher does not go in the plane with you but you need to empty it so it can be stored somewhere else for you to pick up at your destination. You are trying to grab baby number one so you can fold the Stroher, but you have run out of hands, you need to get the baby, the diaper bag, the milk formula, the toys for your husband and the child, your makeup case, the presents for your in laws and the sandwiches and drinks you just purchase at the airport to eat on the plane. So now you know the Stroher is not your carry-on.

what surprises me is the size of strollers out there, not all are equal, so choose a lightweight, easy to fold and don’t use it as your carry-on bag.

Here are two different strollers, the Bravo Air which is bulky and not the best stroller to haul all over the place, instead the Mini Bravo is a light weight, easy to fold and carry everywhere. Chicco didn’t pay me for this advertisement, I Google strollers and they came out first, it could have been Grande instead of Chicco.

Now that you figure out a bulky stroller may not be the best option, your husband may be a better stroller, let’s move on to toys, food, diapers and so on. How much do you really have to take with you? Unless you are travelling to the Sahara with your kids, you can buy diapers everywhere in this world, except the Sahara. Why are you carrying enough diapers to last for a month?

And what about toys, give your child your purse, a shoelace, a diaper or your phone and he can be entertain for hours, ok, maybe not, but you don’t have to carry Toys R Us with you, bring what he likes and that is all. Older children will be plenty entertain with games from your phone, if you have an older phone, all you have to do is connect to a Wi-Fi and he can have his own in the plane or the car, you can connect that phone to your own hotspot on your phone. And finally, food, I don’t know how much food a child needs, but I’m guessing he eats at regular intervals just like you do, so why are you taking food for your older children? I think you can better use that space for items for the baby child.

I’m not trying to tell you what not to take or take, just want you to think before you pack, plan your trip wisely, make a plan and follow the plan, older children can help carry items for their younger siblings on their backpacks, if you are travelling alone with just a baby, remember that once you leave your house you have to carry everything, don’t pack what you don’t need and think of what you can buy at the other end rather than taking it with you.

Don’t forget gentleman you can carry diapers in your luggage as well, and at some point, you will have to change the diapers in the men’s bathroom, just don’t let me watch